Evil Sisters
by could-i-have-a-word
Summary: Maybe if Ben had had a Nintendo Switch Online membership he would have been playing Splatoon 2 instead of Celeste. Or maybe he wouldn't. Either way, he would get to play Splatoon soon, and by then he would have finished Celeste. Os so he thought.


Maybe if Ben had had a Nintendo Switch Online membership he would have been playing Splatoon 2 instead of Celeste. Or maybe he wouldn't. After all, even though nothing could replace Splatoon 2 as his favourite game, Celeste was a strong contender.

_"It's a shame you fell, I was starting to think you'd make it," said the old woman._

"I will," Ben thought, annoyed, as he kept pressing the buttons to get through the dialogue faster.

He was pretty sure he was nearing the end of the game. He had just fallen down the mountain, but he knew that after he got back up during this level, he would be at the end of the climb. He could feel it. Also, he might have watched some YouTube videos about the game.

_"No._

_"I'm going to see this through._

_"No more running," Madeline said, finally._

"Hell yeah," thought Ben.

_"I thought so._

_"Good luck."_

And with that, Ben kept going. He could probably talk to the old woman more, but he had already talked to her, like, twice and he didn't have the patience to read through more conversation. The end was near. Well, the end of the A-sides. But he was determined to do all there was to do in the game before Christmas came next week.

He longed to play Splatoon 2, but that wasn't an option at the moment. He had finished the single player mode — including Octo Expansion — and though he hadn't gotten to play online as much as he would have wanted to he couldn't, as he since almost three months earlier would have had to pay for a membership to play online. He didn't have Nintendo Switch Online. Yet. It was at the top of his Christmas wishlist and he was sure he would get it. After Christmas it was Splatoon 2 24/7. He had already played over 500 hours, enough to reach level 99 and at least rank S+ in all modes, but damn it if he wasn't going to reach level 99 for the second time. First though, Celeste.

_"Come close to me and I'll make you regret it," Badeline said, denying Madeline's efforts to make peace._

Ben sighed. _Of course _he would have to chase Badeline before he could finish climbing the mountain. Badeline started to shoot red balls at him, then some laser thing.

_"I did you a favor," Badeline said._

_"You aren't a __**mountain climber.**_

_" __**I'm just trying to help you!**_

_"None of this would have __**happened**__ if you had __**listened to me!**__ " _

_Madeline did her best to ignore the comments. She was going to climb the mountain. If only Badeline could just __**stop**__ and __**listen to her. **__She didn't have to give in to her fears. She could do it. They could do it. _

Slowly but surely, Ben was advancing. He was dying a lot, and sometimes he thought he might give up, but he always kept going. That was, until it all fell apart.

"Shit.

"Shit.

"Shit."

Again and again, he died. He was trying really hard to control the golden feathers and avoid Badeline's laser and avoid the spikes but he just _couldn't _and he was starting to lose his patience. Maybe he had been playing the game for too long.

"This is the one," he thought as he was almost at the end of the room once again, trying not to get distracted by the fact that his sister Mia had just walked into the living room. "You can do this."

Mia tripped and fell, right in front of the TV.

"Fuck!"

_Badeline stopped shooting as her surroundings fell still. It only took a couple of seconds to realize that something was wrong. Madeline wasn't getting up._

_No. No no no no no. No way._

_"Madeline?"_

_Madeline didn't respond._

_Badeline flew, with more difficulty than usual, over to the lifeless body._

_"Madeline?" she dared to whisper._

_The world was silent. Badeline felt herself start to fade._

_"No," Badeline sobbed, cradling Madeline. "No. Please no."_

_"I told you to stop!" Badeline cried, but she couldn't help but feel like it was partially her fault as well. She was the one who shot Madeline. In the end, she had killed her._

_She didn't know why it had worked though. Madeline was supposed to get up. She always got up. Badeline knew that. She was part of her. So what had happened this time? Why couldn't she get up? _

_Badeline never got any answers to her questions as she had soon faded away entirely, and Madeline lay alone for someone else to find._

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry."

"What the fuck Mia!" Ben shouted.

Mia started crying. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Ben jumped up off the couch and ran to the switch. It was soaked. The giant cup previously filled with Mia's hot chocolate lay next to it.

"No no no no no. Please no," Ben said, cradling his switch.

He desperately tried to save it, but to no avail. The switch never turned on again. All Ben's saves were lost. All his Splatoon 2 progress, lost.

Ben didn't have a Nintendo Switch Online membership.

_Madeline never got up again._

* * *

**A/N: Don't think about Theo. :) **  
**I was like "hm what would happen if the player stopped playing and Madeline actually died forever?" and then this monstrosity happened. I'm sorry.**


End file.
